Giygas Saga - 100 Themes
by QuixoticQuiddity
Summary: Accompanying fanfic to Attack of Giygas and The War Against Giygas, focusing on side stuff. (10: Breathe Again)
1. Introduction and Index

**1: Introduction**

A fine hello to all of you! If you've read the original Attack of Giygas story, you're well aware that I started something called _AOG: 100 Themes_. It was a spin-off story that acted as both a challenge for myself as well as supplementary stuff for the main story. However, as you also may know, I ended up getting really lazy about updating it.

So, I decided to reboot it, instead of continuing from where I left off. This is mainly because the writing styles between then and now greatly differ, and some of the stuff in the original AOG: 100 Themes, I noticed, had stuff that contradicted with the story.

So, I bring you: Giygas Saga - 100 Themes. The first 50 (kinda including this one) will focus on the original Attack of Giygas, while the other 50 will focus on The War Against Giygas; as you can probably guess, the latter 50 chapters would definitely spoil on Attack of Giygas.

 **FINISHED PROMPTS:**

1 - Introduction (Pro-Tip: You're looking at it.)

2 - Love (560+ words)

3 - Light

4 - Dark (420+ words)

5 - Seeking Solace (580+ words)

6 - Break Away (420+ words) (Trust me I'm not trying to make 420 on purpose)

7 - Heaven (700+ words)

8 - Innocence (500+ words)

51 - Sport (3800+ words)

52 - Deep in Thought (600+ words)

53 - Keeping a Secret (1200+ words)

54 - Tower (2900+ words)


	2. Love

**2: Love**

Once upon a time, before the foundation of Galaxies Against Giygas...

Three people found themselves trapped on an island, after a desperate escape from the assault on their previously home away from home. Samus, Pit, and Snake sat around a fire, as the sun of the universe they popped into began setting into the horizon. Samus was in her normal suit, arms crossed, peeved - her spaceship had been stolen in the midst of the escape, and she knew who's responsible and knew that they'd be kissing her metallic fist if she ever saw them again. Snake gazed at the fire with a stony gaze; normally, he'd be enjoying a cigarette, but seeing as there's nowhere to buy them, he had to ration what he had. As for Pit, the angel was staring intently into the fire.

Samus decided to put her anger in the back of her mind, for now. "Is it my turn to hunt for food?"

"Yeah, my shift's in the morning." Snake answered.

"Alright, I'm off." She said, standing up, arm cannon prepped for firing.

"Please don't blast the food apart this time."

"No promises." Samus took her leave.

The two men sit together, completely silent. Which did not sit well with Snake. "Kid, you're not babbling like you usually do." The older man said.

"Huh? Me?" Pit asked, snapping away from the fire.

"Who else?" Snake rolled his eyes. "Is something wrong?"

"Well, I'm just thinking... about Samus." Pit answered.

"Why?"

"O-oh, I'm just concerned about... food! Yeah, I hope she finds floor ice cream out there!" Pit said, laughing meekly before returning to the fire.

The older man sighed. "Do you think I'm stupid? You have some sort of crush on her, don't you?"

"Oh, me? Naaaah."

"Listen, kid." Snake put his hand on the angel's shoulder, patting it. "I'm not sure if Samus is interested in men, or even love. But if she was, she would probably want a real man. Preferably one that doesn't act like that Adam guy she complains about."

"Excuse me! I am too a man!" Pit defended, retaliating by shoving the mercenary. Who wasn't the least bit bothered by it.

"Was that the best shove you could do?" Then, with swiftness, Snake hit Pit with the palm of his hand, sending the poor boy flying. "This is the shove of a true man. The strength that people like Samus would appreciate."

"Are you saying that I would appreciate being shoved?" A cold voice said behind him. Samus had returned, carrying fruits and charred meats of unknown creatures under her arm. Snake couldn't see her eyes past the visor, but he could probably guess that she's glaring at him. "And what are you bullying Pit for?"

"Snake's just a big jerk!" Pit yelled from the ground, adding in a fake sob for good measure.

"Hmph. Snake, you get to preparing the food." The bounty hunter forcibly pushed her gathered food into Snake's hands; the latter cast an annoyed look at Pit as he was getting helped up by Samus, who was greatly appreciative for the help.

"God I feel like a loser... is this how it feels to be Raiden before he turned into a cyborg?" Snake thought to himself.


	3. Light and Dark

**3 and 4: Light and Dark**

In the beginning of every stereotypical creation myth, there is nothing but darkness.

Then, there is suddenly light, and in the Nintendo dimension's creation, that light came in the form of a giant gloved hand.

On the first day, Master Hand wandered the darkness and discovered portals that peered into the various worlds in the realm. The worlds had been created around the same time that he was; this led Master Hand to assume that he accompanied creation to watch over it.

On the second day, Master Hand discovered beings wandering in the darkness. They called themselves the Subspace Army, wandering the world they dubbed Subspace to look for the person that could lead them. Master Hand had thus learned that darkness is not inherently evil - much of the Subspace Army was otherwise nice and friendly. Darkness is nothingness, and from nothingness comes infinite possibilities.

On the third day, Master Hand discovered that he could mold the energies of Subspace into objects with his mere thoughts. He learned that any being aside from those born in Subspace could do that - however, Master Hand, as the hand of creation, is the being that could take advantage of Subspace's creative energies the most. Through his power, he created a grand palace and homes for the people of Subspace, and so the people rejoiced.

On the fourth day, Master Hand realized that Subspace does have a concept of time and it indeed was the fourth day.

On the fifth day, another being of light came into existence. Along with the concept of darkness not being inherently evil, light was not inherently stable; that concept was learned in the form of Crazy Hand, the hand of destruction, who proceeded to utterly fuck up the world.

On the sixth day, Master Hand and Crazy Hand battled. Fears ran that if Crazy Hand won the fight, he may use the creative properties of Subspace for destructive purposes - not just toward Subspace, but toward the worlds that connected to it. In the midst of the chaos, the constant misuse of Subspace's powers created a flawed creation: the Shadow Bugs.

On the seventh day, the fighting ended, Master Hand victorious. However, when Master Hand confronted Crazy Hand, he discovered that indeed, the other hand had no proper grip on reality, and though chaotic, not truly evil. Instead of banishing Crazy Hand as he originally planned, he decided to make Crazy Hand co-leader, and soon came to see him as a brother.


	4. Seeking Solace

**5: Seeking Solace**

* * *

"Hey, Fox?" A voice behind Fox's door asked. The lupine's dorm was much smaller than it was now, accommodating only him. This was the time of the original tournament, when the only StarFox representative was the man himself; no such thing as squabbles with roommates, only squabbles with other fighters.

Fox - a different man than he was now - sat up from his bed, still recovering after a rough fight. "Door's open."

The door was pushed open, letting in a small guest. Pikachu came in, scurrying much like the mouse he is. He seemed agitated - though he expressed it with a frown on his face instead of an angry expression like he would in the future.

"Hey Pikachu." Fox greeted, turning to face him. "What's up?"

"Well, I got into some fight with Donkey Kong." The Pokemon murmured, looking at the floor.

Fox rolled his eyes. "There's always fighting."

"No, not like that. It was in the cafeteria; I was eating my Pokeblocks when he attacked me for them!" Pikachu seemed like he would cry over it.

"He took them from you?" Fox leaned in, concerned. The Pokeblocks were probably banana flavored, considering the circumstances.

"Y-yeah!"

Fox thought of how to resolve the problem. Of course, he could beat up Donkey Kong to get his friend's food back - but that's too basic of a solution. He reached an arm out and patted his friend on the head. "Pikachu. You gotta beat up Donkey Kong, get them back."

"Wait, what?"

"You have to learn how to stand up for yourself, inside and out of Smash."

"But…" Pikachu hesitated.

Ever since he came to the castle, he's had a bit of a problem; he felt that he couldn't stand up to the rest of the competition, being a small Pokemon, not truly any different from any other Pikachu. He became friends with Fox, seeing how bold the pilot was, believing that his attitude would rub off on him…

Fox was looking at him expectantly.

Pikachu gulped then nodded his head. "You know what? You're right, I have to be assertive!"

"Yeah, there we go!" He gave the little guy an encouraging high-five. "Go out there and show that monkey who's boss!"

"Yeah!" A much more confident Pikachu agreed. With that, he scurried out of Fox's room.

Fox laid back down on his bed, sighing contently, glad to have been some help.

Until a panicking Pikachu bashed down Fox's door and snuck under his bed. Surprised, Fox looked under his bed to see the Pokemon curled up far under it. "Uh, what's wrong?"

"So I did what you asked me to…" Pikachu stammered, gulping. "But I kinda went overboard."

"How overboard?"

"I might have fried all of DK's bananas."

" _You what_?"

Already, they could hear the angry ape noises reverberating down the walls of their locale. Fox smacked himself in the face, groaning. "You don't touch that guy's bananas, man." He said, a bit disappointed.

"You told me to be more assertive!"

"Yeah, but I didn't say, "screw up DK's day", did I? This is way worse than beating him up!"

"...How?"

"...Well, you see, it hurts him really emotionally and I'm pretty sure the guy beat up an entire army of crocodiles that stole his banana hoard."

"Oh."

Fox should also teach him how to pick his fights.


	5. Sport

**Author's Note** : And so the next prompt on our plate is… the 51st one? Yes, rather than making you all wait for me to eventually get to the second half of my prompts, I decided that it's best to alternate. Unlike the past chapters, this one is actually decently long. This chapter has spoilers for Attack of Giygas (obviously) and spoilers for The War Against Giygas around Chapter 13.

* * *

 **51** : Sport

* * *

 **5**

The sound of cheering crowds is music to Marth's ears, the roar of people from all directions in a stadium strengthening his sense of self-worth. And ego.

Normally, Marth would indulge the crowds with a flourish of his fencing sword, or flip his cape like any cool guy with a cape would do. That sort of stuff would drive people (especially anyone into pretty boys like him) crazy.

However, he couldn't do that. He did not have his trusty sword at his side at the moment. He lacked the nice cape that accentuated his pretty boy stature. Marth didn't even have any armor, actually. In fact, the stadium he was in wasn't the gladiatorial coliseum he was used to.

He's in a soccer stadium. He's in a soccer uniform.

Marth's a soccer player.

But a pretty damn good one. He looked at the defeated team of Koopas, who were all despairing over their loss, with a sense of pride. The red mist that filled the air egged on his more selfish thoughts, telling him not to worry about how they feel. 5-2 victory? Marth deserves nothing but praise, the voices told him.

The voices are annoying, but they know how it is, Marth thinks every time they talk to him.

 **1**

Mario, Luigi, Ganondorf, and the Ice Climbers arrived to the universe of the first two, enjoying a life of peace.

They weren't the only ones that arrived in the universe, however. Marth, too, had come; with a Warp Star stowed away on the Halberd, he followed the closest people he saw as the airship was destroyed.

Unfortunately, Marth got lost on the way and ended up in some desert.

When he first arrived, the swordsman hovered above the ground on the Warp Star (out of refusal to get sand all over himself) and held his cape over himself (to shield from the deadly heat of the sun).

"Is this desert part of the Mushroom Kingdom?" Marth asked no one in particular. "How many desert levels are in Mario's games anyway…"

Then, a sudden gust of hot wind blew throughout the desert. Marth found himself losing his grip on his cape, which proceeds to fly away forever. He also lost his grip on the Warp Star and fell into a sand bank, getting sand all over his clothes.

To add insult to injury, sand particles and tiny pebbles ended up getting stuck in the Warp Star's engine, causing it to stall and crash into the ground, completely unusable.

"...Well. This is it then." Marth sighed in resignation. He stood up, not even bothering to dust himself off, and looked over the horizon. Not a settlement, nothing in sight. "...I'm going to die."

So, he drew his sword. "Well, I want to at least die while I think I'm still hot."

* * *

Marth woke up in a stone building in a comfy bed, an air conditioner positioned nearby. The swordsman was dressed in much lighter clothing fit for the desert. He turned in his bed and saw a mirror positioned on a wall, and he smiled at his reflection.

"Damn, I still look good." He said to himself.

"Oh, you're awake." Somebody said. The door to the room was pushed over, allowing a Toad of sorts inside. He was dressed up in light clothing and had a turban instead of one of those mushroom hats - clearly, he was a local to the area. Marth's rescuer looked at him with narrowed eyes, with confusion. "...I found you in the middle of the desert with your own sword through your chest. Were you accosted by bandits?"

"...Er… yes." Marth stammered. Thinking a bit, he asked, "Why am I still alive? I mean, I still look good so I'm not complaining."

"You had the extra lives to spare, don't be daft."

"Oh, I stabbed myself for no reason, then?"

"What."

"...Anyway." The swordsman coughed, wanting to get away from the subject. "I appreciate your help, but I really must get going, I need to get to the Mushroom Kingdom." He speculated that if Mario and Luigi had been leading the way, they would have most likely gone back to where they live; he thought that regrouping with people he knew would help him cope with his unusual situation better.

"The Mushroom Kingdom?" The desert Toad's eyes were wide open, amused. "You are aware that the Mushroom Kingdom's on another continent, right?"

"This world has continents?"

Now the Toad was concerned. "The desert heat must have really done a number on you, huh? Well, for a quick refresher: you're on the Yucatan continent, in the Stupei region. The Yucatan continent is characterized by its abundance of deserts and mountains, and holds a foothold in the world economy because of its precious minerals and ore…"

Marth stared at him blankly, not wanting to be subjected to fictional world building.

And so, minutes later…

"...so, my knowledge on these things led me to becoming a teacher on world history and geography. With the brutal wars between the Supei, Amada, and Orgia regions two decades ago as well as the assassination of Archduke Ferdikoopa, there's a lot of instability and a desperate need of education. For you see, I believe that education gives people the knowledge to avoid the mistakes on the past and build for the future."

"Okay." Marth said, half-tired; he kinda lived through wars and political intrigue already. "That's real fascinating. But how do I get off of this continent?"

"Well, much of the passenger boats and airships had been used for war and were subsequently destroyed, and most of the ones that remain are currently being used for trade and reconstruction."

"Uh-huh."

"So, with there being so few passenger rides, tickets are ludicrously expensive."

And so, there was the problem. Marth initially scoffed. "I'm royalty, they have to let me have a ticket."

"I admit that you're quite attractive, but royalty? Preposterous. I'll get you some water, you must be really out of it." With that the Toad left, believing that the self-proclaimed prince is suffering from heat stroke.

Well, he wasn't a self-proclaimed prince, but Marth realized that it's how he'd be viewed in this universe - his status no longer had any sway.

When the Toad professor returned, Marth gratefully gulped down the glass of water he brought. "Thank you. Now, do you know any way to make money in this country?"

"Hm… well, there's plenty of labor jobs to help with reconstruction."

"Nah." Marth answered, believing himself to be too good for menial labor.

"You can take up mercenary work; you have a sword and there are plenty of bandits out there threatening peace."

"Tempting."

"Or, you can try soccer."

"...Soccer?"

 **2**

In the midst of disasters, people tend to look toward something to revitalize their spirits, something happy that can unite them as a community; this is what the Toad professor had explained at some point during his spiel, describing the sudden boom of the entertainment industry during the continent's reconstruction (but alas, Marth did not care). One of the things that had been introduced was the sport of soccer (or football for you non-Americans), which was still taking in players at the time.

So, Marth stood in the middle of a stadium, built with sandstone in pristine glory. Marth looked at the walls, baffled. "This seems fairly new. They prioritized building a stadium over anything else?"

The Toad professor, who had accompanied him there, nodded sadly. "There's a reason why there's why we want our president ousted."

"...This continent is weird." Marth really wanted to get out of this place, before he gets caught up in a war or something. "Where are the other players?"

"There… are no other players yet!" The sand in front of Marth exploded (thank goodness his Toad friend has his fine clothes stowed away), a Sumo Brother emerging from below the ground. "I am the Coach Bro, and I've tested the mettle of many rookies! This country needs a strong team, but no one's met my expectations yet! Do you have what it takes, son?"

Brushing the sand off of himself, Marth confidently said, "I'll take you up on the challenge."

His Toad friend patted him on the back. "Good luck."

Then he proceeded to run, hiding in the bleachers.

Coach Bro made a wide grin. "You're pretty cocky, boy! Hm, looking at you, you've got an alright physique for soccer - but let's see if it isn't just for show!"

He slammed his foot down and suddenly a cannon of sorts rose out of the sand, along with the net. "Show me your kicks, son!"

Then, the cannon shot out a soccer ball, rolling at Marth at high speeds,

But this isn't the first time a soccer ball was launched at him at high speeds. He's hit plenty of them before too; granted, it was with his sword, but same thing.

Seeing it as just another launched attack, Marth kicked at the ball as soon as it reached him, flying it toward the net.

Coach Bro smiled. "Beginner's luck."

Then, more soccer balls started getting launched at Marth. At first, the swordsman didn't see any problem, scoring goals continually…

Then more cannons popped up and started shooting green shells at him. On top of that, several posts rose out of the ground and create and electrical field around the soccer stadium.

"What the hell?" He questioned, wondering why regular soccer can't be this hardcore. Marth started dodging the green shells, jumping or stepping to the side, striking out his legs to kick the balls toward the goal; some began to miss, but, Coach Bro still looked on approvingly.

After several kicks and tripping on a green shell once, Marth fell to the ground, exhausted. Thankfully, the cannons stopped firing, not hitting him while he's down. Coach Bro walked over, standing over him.

"Son… that was the finest display of footwork I've seen!" He complimented.

"Wait, what? I still failed!"

"Bah, the test goes on forever - it's just to see how long you last. You, you made more than 15 goals the last guy, and you lasted 5 whole minutes!" Coach Bro pulled him up, slapping him on the shoulder. "Welcome to the team!"

 **3**

After a few months, Marth was leader of the Stupei Shells, leading them against the threat of the Amada Spears. Over the past few months, he helped Coach Bro build up a whole new team, some members he helped train himself, and together, they clashed with many of the teams on the Yukatan continent, with a flawless win streak. The upcoming game with the Amada Spears, the last formidable team on the continent, held high stakes, especially for Marth. The winning team would be accepted into the United Strikers Federation, which would also grant the team travel visas, which would allow Marth to finally get together with the other estranged Smashers, as well as to move about when any threats come about.

"Have you heard of the red clouds over the Mushroom Kingdom?" His Toad pal, or rather, Scholar T. as he learned, informed him during breakfast; Marth had pretty much been staying with the guy, as the two grew to enjoy each other's company.

"Red clouds?" Marth said, greatly interested; the last time he's seen clouds was that was when Giygas attacked.

"Yes. See, they appeared following an explosion a while ago, and the resulting mist has odd properties, and it's only been labeled a major concern recently…" Scholar T. explained. "According to scientists, anyone that's had substantial contact with the mist has heightened aggression and paranoia, on top of rambling about something called 'Giygas'. See, they believe that it's a chemical weapon, and scientists are thinking about naming the resulting affliction, "Giygas Syndrome"."

"Uh-huh…. say, do you know what happened to the Mario brothers?"

Scholar T. knew that his end goal was to reunite with them, and thankfully, the Toad had good news. "Well, newspapers informed that the Mario brothers - as well as these two children - led an evacuation of Toad Town and surrounding areas, and they've found sanctuary in Isle Delfino. However, this might not be the last time something like this would happen; there's been reported sightings of red clouds all over the world, as well as pockets of people with increased aggression."

"Well, I hope that doesn't happen here. This place already sucks enough." Marth bluntly stated.

"You'll be able to get away soon." He reassured him, in sports movie fashion. "You can win the soccer game, I believe in you. Your team believes in you."

A week later was the big game. The game was being held at Stupei's home stadium, packed with fans from all regions. Marth came out with his motley gang, a ragtag team of Toads, Koopas, and Boos, all united by common skill. The crowd cheered (minus the Amada Spears supporters, who booed) as the team arrived, and went even more wild as Marth blew a kiss in their direction; being a pretty boy ruled sometimes.

The other team appeared. The Amada Spears were made up of both Spear Guys and Anuboos ("...Aren't they from the Beanbean Kingdom?" Marth thought). One Spear Guy with an angry expression painted on his mask - presumably the captain - stepped forth, staring Marth down. "Do your best - my team's gone too far to be disappointed by weak competition."

"Then let's have a battle worthy of each other." Marth said nodding; in his head though, he thought of all kinds of trash talk.

The players went off on their sides of the field, facing each other off. A Lakitu floated in the middle of the field, between Marth and the Spear Guy captain, prepared to drop the ball.

Then part of the stadium exploded into red smoke. This shocked the Lakitu intro dropping the ball; The Spear Guy honestly mistook it all to be some kinda special effect and he took the initiative and kicked the ball.

The teams begin to play, unaware of the pandemonium that was going on in the bleachers; it wasn't until they begin hearing the panic above that they started suspecting that something was wrong. The Stupei Shells and Amada Spears looked at each other, wondering whether they should keep going or not.

That was until the gas that was spreading in the stands and floating into the clouds started seeping down onto the playing field. Marth, who had the ball, started coughing, a sense of dread filling him, realizing what's really happening.

Appearing in front of him, one of the enemy Anuboos came, and kicked the ball away from his feet. "W-what are you doing?" Marth questioned, the game forgotten. "Don't you see what's happening? This is the least of our concerns!"

Further shocking him, the Anuboo turned their head and growled angrily before going after the ball. Marth looked further and saw that despite him recognizing that there was a bigger problem at hand, the game goes on; however, the players had changed. The kicks became harder and aggressive, players were tackling enemies or any allies that were unfortunate enough to get in the way in pursuit of the ball, and some unfortunate players were thrown into the electric fence more often than they usually are.

"...I have to get out of here." Marth concluded. He turned and began to flee, covering his mouth with his arm to stop himself from breathing any more gas.

" _Where are you going?_ " A harsh voice rasped in his ears.

"Wha- who are you?" He thought, rather than saying out loud.

" _Does it matter? Look at yourself, running away. You have a game to play._ "

"No I don't."

" _Yes you do. I thought this match was important to you?_ "

"It is - but this is more important, I have to get away."

" _Don't go away. Just breathe it all in._ " The voice tempted him. " _The gas isn't hurting you. It will only strengthen you. You will become as strong as the other players - stronger, in fact._ "

"I -" Marth's thought processes were interrupted when the ball was kicked his way, knocking him onto his stomach - and leaving him able to breathe the air in.

The soccer game continued on around him, the players - even his own - ignoring him while he was involuntarily breathing the gas in; they all felt the urge to finish the game - no matter the cost.

The voice in his head seemed to get stronger, speaking of its desires… or rather, Marth's as it claims. " _You're doing this to reunite with your friends, I gather? But that's not the truth, is it? I know who you are - a fighter. You would have fared much better as a mercenary; in fact, you'd have likely gotten enough money to get off of Yukatan a long time ago if you stuck to the route of the sword._ "

"What's this supposed to mean?" He thought, weakly.

" _You chose to be a soccer player - but you didn't need to. You chose to be one for one thing: fame. You want everybody's eyes to be on you, to be praised by everyone. It's been about you, it's always about you. You only see those teammates as hanger-ons; you don't even remember their names, or in fact, bothered to learn them. It's not even in the narration._ "

"I… no…."

" _These are your desires - and I can give you the initiative to achieve it. Come on… one little soccer game won't hurt…_ "

Deep within Marth, he could feel something boiling. A rush of adrenaline spreads through him, a deep fire acting as his engine…

So, Marth stood.

Across the field, the teams… no, everyone else, continued the game; some people had resorted to fist fighting with each other over the game, which would probably be a penalty were the referee still lucid. The swordsman saw the captain of the other team, trying to keep the ball away from his goal.

With his newfound energy, Marth sprinted at him, and before the Spear Guy could pass the ball, Marth delivered a solid kick - right into the goal.

The patches of audience members that had not yet fled cheered - though, they were much more ferocious about it than usual.

The cheers of the crowd was music to his ears.

 **4**

Unfortunately, before the game could even reach a conclusion, it was rudely interrupted by the Stupei government declaring martial law, and there was an army of sorts . Marth found himself detained along with many others in the stadium; of course, there was a violent backlash, and with the spreading gas cloud, the army had to pull away.

With a sense of anger boiling inside of him, unsatisfied that a proper victory wasn't achieved, Marth went back to his roommate's house, ignoring the sounds of siren and chaos around him.

"M-Marth, are you okay?" Scholar T. said when he saw the soccer player. "I heard about what happened on tv; did you get away in time?"

"No." Marth said simply. "Relax, I'm not going to hurt you."

Scholar T. clearly did not believe him, what with raising a frying pan at him and all.

"...but I do have something to say. I think I'm moving out." Marth said. "I'm better than this. I don't need to mooch off of your kindness."

"...Marth? You certainly seem more egotistical as usual."

"Really? Nah, it seems fitting. I am a great soccer player after all, And one of the finest swordsmen to boot." Marth went into his room and gathered all his things, fully intent on leaving. "I can get my own place - I deserve it. I can get by on my player paychecks…"

"I thought you were going to buy that ticke-"

"Screw the ticket. I don't need them." Marth opened the front door, not even looking back. "I can take care of myself in this world."

" _And you'll prosper as well._ " The voice in his head said.

 **6**

Marth was in the locker room to relax after the game… or rather, his private locker room. After he roughed up Coach Bro a little, he convinced him that he needed it. He didn't need to share breath with the others anyway.

The government of Stupei simply collapsed in the following months, as the red clouds completely blotted the skies over the region. Instead, all affairs would be ruled by King Boo… ...who was completely incompetent and easily manipulated, which led to New Stupei being founded, on top of getting the funding for soccer games to continue (King Boo was a sucker for soccer). There's a reason why King Boo hadn't yet effectively taken over the universe yet, and thanks to that incompetence, Marth managed to get back on the map as a star soccer player. Team? What team?

He's kinda forgotten his original goals in this universe, nor did he really care to know. His current position just made him feel good.

As he was going over to his locker, he heard a voice: "Hey."

Marth looked around wildly, pulling out his sword from his locker; many spiteful players had attempted to assassinate him before, and he sure wasn't going to let it happen now. "Who's there?"

"Hey Marth, relax, it's me." A worried Falco stepped into view, arms raised in the air.

"Oh… why are you here? Oh wait, don't tell me, you want an autograph, don't you? Everyone wants my autograph."

"What? No, I don't want your stinking autograph!"

Marth took a step toward him. "Excuse me?"

"...I didn't bring a pen."

"...Don't worry about it, I have my own." Marth casually retrieved that too from his locker, while keeping his sword at his side. "I don't see you have any pictures of me. I'll just sign your face, if you don't mind."

"Wait, what?"

"Hey, plebeians like you should be grateful to have their foreheads signed by me!" Marth shouted, grip tightening on his sword, his aggression clearly rising.

"Oh for the love of -" Falco looked past him. "Will you just kidnap him already!"

Marth only saw the giant hand for a second before he was trapped in his soft confines. Before the swordsman could start swinging or kicking his way out, Master Hand squeezed, putting him into a sleeper hold.

"Master Hand, are you sure we should bring him along? He's more out of it than he used to be." Falco pointed out, thankful that he didn't need to get a signature on his forehead.

"I'm positive. The thing is, despite the gas' influence, he clearly has no loyalty to Giygas - if anything, the gas only made him loyal to himself." Master Hand said. When they found Marth on the surveillance screen (which depicted a particularly violent soccer match he was in), the hand had observed that Marth was completely self-serving (which he noted when he saw Marth kicking the ball away from his own teammates to score goals himself). "I feel that we could get him on our side - we just need to appeal to him."

"Appeal to his supersized, even worse ego, you mean?"

"...Yeah, I suppose so." Master Hand sighed, keeping Marth firmly in his palm. "Well, let's get going before those soccer fans out there notice their star player is missing."


	6. Break Away

**Note:** Jeff, in between getting ditched and joining Giygas' crew.

 **6** : Break Away

* * *

Jeff rested near a dead tree, trying to rest off his wounds, having fought off several marauding monsters. Jeff honestly felt betrayed. He couldn't believe that he would be treated this way by the so-called heroes as well as his own friend, Ness. Why would they just leave him for dead? Oh, it's because he insulted Nintendo.

He gritted his teeth. "I know I was a bit harsh, but I had honest criticisms." He said to no one in particular. Sure, Nintendo's lovable, but there's a lot of legitimate problems, he thought. There's the poor net coding in comparison to other systems, the user interface of the shops are quirky and friendly but it's annoying to navigate, the lack of proper account systems until later, overreliance on Mario while smaller series don't get too much attention, the problems with Nintendo of America such as not bringing the regular New 3DS over until much later and the XL not coming with a charger and the constant amiibo shortages in America…

Jeff paused his thoughts. What the hell was a New 3DS? What's amiibo? Is that a food? Is there some weird time difference between when the original Earthbound arc in Attack of Giygas was written to this short chapter of a side story? Probably. But still, Jeff felt like he had a point.

But noooo, that perfectly justifies leaving him for dead to get beaten up by monsters.

"I'm not evil for this." Jeff thought. It all just made him angry…

" _Be angry._ " A voice hissed - in his head.

Jeff looked up into the dangerously red sky. His universe was the first that was seriously invaded by the Giygas administration - perhaps mainly out of spite after being defeated the first time. And second time. During his first invasions, Giygas influenced the evils within someone's heart to make them evil; it used to only influence a few people, but now with that gas in the sky, many people are much more susceptible to it.

Including him, he thinks. He used to think that he was immune to it, but now, with these feelings inside of him rising up...

" _You're not evil._ " The voice said, as Jeff felt anger and spite rise inside of him.

He felt the presence of somebody heading near him, but he still felt too weak to draw a weapon…

" _But if they're going to treat you like you're evil, than let yourself be evil._ "


	7. Heaven

**7) Heaven**

Mr. Game and Watch couldn't remember the frenzy that occurred when the Halberd was under fire. All the two-dimensional man could really remember was the mass panic for evacuation off of the sinking ship. Looking around now though, he now knew two things. One, he was alive and well. Two, he was in some cloudy place in the sky, with pristine marble structures built atop the clouds and light radiating…

He paused. Now that he thinks about it, he might not have made it.

"But you did make it," A heavenly voice of a woman echoed out, responding to the narration. A ray of light shot through the clouds, basking over the two-dimensional man.

"Don't be surprised, I was known for being pretty self-aware in my own game." The voice continued to respond, acting as if talking to the narration is a normal thing.

Hey look, I started the original Attack of Giygas on November 14th, 2010, I didn't know anything about Kid Icarus Uprising!

"It was shown off at E3 that year." The voice huffed, the situation escalating toward silliness.

We didn't know how self-aware the game would be, come on, and quit giving me a hard time.

Meanwhile, Mr. Game and Watch had opted to ignore the aimless arguments and sat down, staring at the pretty clouds and basking in the heavenly light the voice was bestowing on him. So, ahem?

"Oh, right." The source of the voice decided that it was best to set this stuff aside for now. Besides, we have to work under the assumption that this was written in 2010… cough, even though we didn't know much about the source of her personality in that time, cough. Deciding not to escalate the conversation (for now), she revealed herself – a flash of light and a huge robed figure appeared, wielding a staff. She floated down from the clouds, approaching Mr. Game and Watch cautiously. "Greetings, I am Lady Palutena."

"…" Mr. Game and Watch didn't seem to be paying attention to what she was saying, instead looking at those hologram like wings at her sides.

She sighed and dissipated her wings, allowing herself to land on the ground (or clouds) in front of him. "I understand that you might be in shellshock, after what happened. As a goddess, I can feel when these great disasters happen…"

Mr. Game and Watch jumped to his feet, looking up at the goddess – the severity of the situation was rushing at him. "Oh yes, Giygas sure interrupted our last day of Smash!" Well, maybe not.

"Well, yes…" An off-put Palutena agreed. He seems like somebody who's difficult to get along with. "But Giygas is part of a bigger problem, Mr. Game and Watch."

He gasped. "How did you know my name?" He pointed an accusatory finger. "You want my identity, don't you? That's truly the most heinous of crimes!"

Palutena didn't feel at all threatened. If anything, she just felt concerned. "Oh, I saw it in the narration." And speaking of the narration, she leaned toward it (how?) and whispered, "Is there something wrong with him?"

He has a strange grasp on morals.

"How so?"

He only joined the Smashers because he was offered a parasol, for starters.

"Ahhh…" She turned her attention back to Mr. Game and Watch, trying to give him a warm, welcoming smile. "Mr. Game and Watch… I fear that there will be a great battle for good and evil one day, so, what I'm asking you is, what side will you be on?"

"Mine." He said bluntly, gesturing at himself.

"…What if I gave you…" Palutena brought her wings back, quickly drawing the flat man's attention. "…wings?"

"Wings? I can be a better octopus with those wings!"

"…You're only getting these wings if you remain on the side of good." Of course, it was a flat-out lie, because she honestly had no idea how she has her cool wings. But then again, he honestly seems like somebody who would be fooled by cardboard cut-outs of wings, and that's a lie she could easily pull off.

Mr. Game and Watch jumped up and down, emitting a beeping noise.

"…What does that mean?" The goddess whispered.

Just take it as a good thing. I'll write it as a good thing.

"Seems fair."

* * *

 _I've been thinking about doing commissions. Not for like money or anything, but for Steam gifts. See, Undertale introduced me to the horrors of Steam and I just want to buy everything. Does it sound like a neato thing? Message me, maybe._


	8. Deep In Thought

**52:** Deep in Thought

* * *

Deep within Subspace, Falco did some introspection in his cell, as he has been for the past few months. With nothing much to do - aside from the occasional badgering by higher ups, it's how he spent a lot of his time. He sat on the metal floor in his prisoner jumpsuit, legs crossed, eyes closed. It's in his thoughts where he was truly free. Giygas and his cronies may be keeping him down physically, but they can never have him mentally.

He liked to think about his life and everything that had led up to this point. He thought about the universal secrets that had been acquired in the futile attempt to reach the center of the dimensional before Giygas; it was a treasure trove of information, and he could spend days contemplating basic facts in one universe. He's also thought about good places where he could escape to, if any future escape attempt was successful. His number one choice was definitely the Ice Climbers' universe – so irrelevant that his captors wouldn't have a base there, nor even consider that he would escape there.

Sometimes, he liked to think about one other thing.

That red mist that seeps into his cell.

All the cells were like this. The red mist that composed of Giygas' incomprehensible form drifted through the cells, driving prisoners mad. Some prisoners were utterly corrupted and were then freed when they had confirmed loyalty to Giygas and Giygas alone.

Yet, there was no effect on Falco, and even though he's happy about that, he wonders – why?

He tried to think about the aspects of the Giygas gas. As his friends back in the Wind Waker universe (whom he thought about often) discovered, the stuff could be purified to create beneficial, life-giving things. Apparently, "death and hate plus purification equals life". Falco was no scientist, but he thought that it was a load of barnacles. But it's barnacles that works.

He lingered on that thought. Hate. Some construct that inspires anger and irrationality in people. The gas was filled with the stuff….

That's when Falco came to his first revelation.

Maybe the gaseous substance invoked hate in people. Maybe, it strengthened the hate that people have.

That could be why. That may be why the gas makes people go crazy. It just fills them up with hate, to the point that they can't operate rationally.

Still though, that doesn't explain why it doesn't affect him. The avian tries to think about it. Perhaps, maybe, he simply has no hate in his heart.

…

Falco broke out of his meditative state and started laughing. Pfft, that's bs. He certainly hated Giygas, after all.

However, in the middle of his laughing fit, his mind connected the dots, and he gave himself a mental high five.

The gas is an aspect of Giygas, and the gas invokes or strengthens hate. But if he hated Giygas, more than anything else in the whole stinking universe? There's definitely no way the Giygas spawned mist would egg that on.

Falco folded his arms, feeling triumphant. That could be the key to the whole thing. He thought about other people, his fellow Smashers, his friends. If they all have hate and contempt for Giygas, then they will never be affected. Somewhere, out there, there's somebody like him, somebody that's not in a cage that holds Giygas as public enemy number one, and that somebody's willing to fight him and in his stupid empire.

Falco nodded to himself. This was a good introspection session. He'll make sure to double the hate he already has for Giygas from now on.

* * *

 **Author's Note** : Add me on Steam... hyperinuyasha... trade caRDS TO ME


	9. Keeping a Secret

**53) Keeping a Secret**

* * *

Link and Porky sat against the walls of the steel prison that they had been locked inside, exhausted after the events of the past half hour. As soon as Giygas had them thrown in as punishment, Link immediately got to work on stabbing the boy trapped with him, which was honestly the only way things could have gone. Porky had gotten up a few seconds later, as both of them were in a universe where death was just a slap on the wrist.

So it enabled Link to kill him again.

And again.

And several more agains.

And until Porky just started seeing it as an annoyance.

And until Link finally got bored.

So now the two villains sat against the wall together, recovering after a long period of death and rebirth. Link started to drift to sleep, his hand reaching into his pocket, for whatever reason. Porky glared at the sleeping ex-hero. Now that he was asleep, maybe Porky could get his revenge for the various deaths Link subjected him to?

No, no. Porky was a petty boy, sure, but he had the feeling that Giygas would keep them there longer the more they fought. In fact, now that he thinks about it, that's pretty much the point. This is probably some bullshit friendship exercise.

Porky groaned. How long until Giygas lets them out? He was bored. Link broke anything that he had on him that would be considered entertaining and he could sleep, but sleeping is also boring and therefore sucks.

It led to the boy looking around for something interesting. And then he gave up. The steel cell had nothing for them. So, it led to Porky's gaze drifting toward Link, this time in curiosity rather than hate.

…What was he holding in his pocket?

Porky looked at Link's face. He was fast asleep, because unnecessary ultraviolence really does tire someone out. Taking the risk he slowly reached over. He carefully pulled Link's hand out of his pocket (while keeping a close eye on his other hand, holding his sword) and reached into his pocket…

Porky felt a glass jar. He pulled it out.

There was a small blue fairy fluttering inside.

Porky wasn't much of a Zelda fan, but he could recognize the small being inside of the jar.

He decided to take a step forward and opened the jar.

The being named Navi fluttered out.

"…Try not to wake him up, okay?" Was the first thing she said, quietly, staring over at her… companion?

"Aren't you that annoying fairy?" Porky said – though quietly, because he wouldn't want to be on the receiving end of an awake Link.

"…I'm not that annoying." Navi said, with a hint of contempt in her voice.

"…Why has Link been keeping you around?"

The fairy floated contemplatively. She floated over to Link then floated back to Porky and honestly answered, "Because I was one of his first friends."

"Snrrk, really?" Porky tried to keep himself from laughing. "Man, what a lose-"

Navi bashed herself against Porky's face. It was an ineffective attack, but the fact that she even struck him at all was enough to shut him up. "Be quiet – and don't call him a loser."

"Defensive much?"

"Link may be… different now, but we've always been friends." She stated firmly. "You can call me annoying all you want, but…" She rested on Link's chest. "I was his companion during all those lonely journeys he had. He's… the only one that understands that I'm well-intentioned when I say, "hey, listen." Why did he think he was looking for me in Majora's Mask?"

"He was?" Porky asked genuinely.

"Well, it was implied in the opening narration and he kinda did get distracted by a falling moon."

"Seems fair. But still… why the hell is he still keeping you around? Isn't he a little too psycho to keep a friend with him? Isn't he totally brainwashed to work for us?"

Navi floated toward him. "Well, he's not exactly brainwashed…" She then asked him, "Do you know how that gas your boss makes works?"

Porky tried to rack his brains. "Uhhh…" He then shrugged. "Nope."

"Well, it enhances all the hate and negative qualities in someone. It's something that I've observed from my bottle…" Navi explained. "Do you know why Link is super violent? That's why."

Porky gave cautious, confused look to the sleeping swordsman. "He's always been violent?"

"He's… kept it on the down low. We started journeying together when he was a young kid… do you know how it feels as a young boy? To swing at things with a sword? To kill other creatures at a young age? To have the weight of the entire kingdom – no, the world – on your shoulders?"

"I didn't have a sword, but sure." Porky answered casually.

"Well, you were always trash." Navi snapped. "But Link used to be innocent… but in saving the world, he corrupted himself. Even when he grew himself up, he still had the mind of a child, and all the violence and nightmarish things he experienced broke him. It became an urge for him... the urge to commit violence. And when he was exposed to your… boss," she spat out, "It just grew that horrible urge. The other Links, I'm not sure if the same goes for them, but I dread if they faced the same thing…

"But despite all that, Link is still my friend and he's still mine. Sure, he keeps me in a bottle to keep me from blabbing to people – like in that other universe – but he still values me." She sighed. "I just wished that he were on the right side."

"So... Link was always psycho?"

"I wouldn't use that word but... yes. He's been like this for a long time. It's just that your boss brought it out." Navi answered quietly. "Link didn't 'turn' evil. He just... turned to the side who he feels would give him the most things to fight, because that's the only thing he has on his mind... but... he's still a tender person. I know because I'm the only one he talks to sincerely..."

Link suddenly twitched in his sleep.

Navi got into a panic. "Ah, you should put me back!"

Not wanting to evoke Link's wrath, Porky quickly followed her suggestion.

But before closing the lid, she added: "But this is a secret to everyone."

"Why?"

"...Link doesn't want other people to know that he was always like this. He sees it as a source of trauma - it's only under Giygas that he can justify his violence." Navi replied, quietly. Fluttering nervously, she added, "Now hurry up!"

An angry Link was a bad Link, so Porky nodded and shut the jar tight. He forced it back into Link's pocket – though gently.

Link's hand reflexively reached to the bottle in his pocket and a smile appeared on his sleeping face. A smile with genuine warmth instead of the bloodlust induced grin he tends to make around others.

Porky had to admit that it was nice, though he felt a strange feeling. However, he simply can't place it. ...Nah, he must just be bored. He gets bored pretty quickly, he's definitely not feeling anything other than boredom right now.

"...When are we getting out of here?" Porky asked himself.


	10. Innocence

**8: Innocence**

Looking over somebody that lacked a proper sense of morals tends to be troubling. Palutena was finding that out the hard way. She had to make sure that Mr. Game and Watch was ready to face the threats ahead, so that he may help bring down Giygas - who knows if the other Smashers were going to fight Giygas?

Unfortunately.

"No, Mr. Game and Watch." Palutena said, warm yet stern, hand on Mr. Game and Watch's shoulder as he blew his two-dimensional insecticide at a cowering centurion.

"Ahhh! I'm not a bug!" The poor centurion cried out, wings twitching as the two dimensional man continues his assault. Other centurions were present, either watching in horror or rolling on the ground, having been sprayed earlier.

"That's exactly what a bug would say! It must be working, why do you flinch so?" Mr. Game and Watch declared, ignoring the goddess' looming presence.

"You're getting it in my eyes!"

"Bugs have eyes, exactly."

"Mr. Game and Watch." With that, she simply pried the insecticide out of his hands - which then promptly disappears because only Mr. Game and Watch can properly harness two dimensional objects. "Enough."

"Miss Palutena, there are bugs flying all over your palace, and they're armed!" Mr. Game and Watch ranted madly while his victim fled. "See, some bugs suck up blood. Vampires suck up blood. See, we must eradicate these armed vampires! Kill or be killed!"

"That is not a good philosophy to have." Palutena said, wagging her finger at him.

"But they will kill us because vampires are inherently murderous! Therefore we must become murderous ourselves!" He continued to rant, rather sincerely.

Palutena felt frustrated, but she had to be patient. It's not as if he was truly evil - just truly confused. "Mr. Game and Watch, what makes my wings different from those of my centurions?" To emphasize the question, she summoned her glowing angelic wings.

Like before, Mr. Game and Watch seemed to be mystified. "Because it's glowing... and glowing things are cool and doesn't kill things!"

"...Do you know what a nuclear missile looks like?"

"Well, that smells bad and is bad, so it's the exception." He answered. "A missile also destroyed Miami and Miami is a nice place so yeah."

Palutena sighed. She was beginning to miss Pit - even he wasn't this clueless. "You certainly have an interesting way of thinking... say, what do you think of birds?"

"Oh, birds are nice!"

"Well, these centurions... are actually birds, not bugs." She lectured, trying to go along with his line of logic. "You simply have the wings all wrong."

Mr. Game and Watch rubbed his chin, thinking about it. Then he jumped in shock. "Oh my... you're right... I've been hurting birds!"

"Yes..." She nodded. "You must not hurt my bird people, okay?"

"Of course! I'm sorry, I must apologize!" Mr. Game and Watch declared. He started running toward the centurion that he was previously terrorizing (who flinched upon seeing him), shouting, "I'm sorry!"

Palutena then saw that his concept of being apologetic is tackling the person he's apologizing to and hugging them. Regardless, the goddess found herself smiling. Baby steps.


	11. Drive

**8: Drive**

Fox found himself walking out to the practice race track late at night, with nobody but service robots around fixing things up. Setting themselves up to serve concessions for tomorrow morning. Cleaning up after the dead bodies that popped up around the track - Fox tried to ignore that. He had left Meta Knight and Pikachu behind in a small motel (which Samurai Goroh had apparently paid for them, though it's entirely possible that the guy threatened the owners) to get in some late night practice. It totally beat sleeping in one whole cramped bed.

He got his vehicle out of one of the track's garages. Yet another thing that was lent out by Samurai Goroh; despite being a bit of a criminal, he certainly was an honorable fellow that wanted to give them a fair chance at leaving the planet. Fox opened the cockpit and slid himself in. The F-Zero machine was spacey, so that he, Pikachu, and Meta Knight could all fit into it. Fox would be doing most of the driving, but hey, up close moral support would be fantastic.

Fox first remembered when he got behind the controls of an F-Zero machine. It was a Smash match that could have ended in a failure which he then turned into a victory, turning it around and running down the other fighters.

It wasn't legal but Master Hand was so impressed that he let it slide.

There was something about being behind the controls of a vehicle that awakened a sense of discovery inside of him. Experienced with an Arwing, a Landmaster, that weird transformation where the Arwing runs like a chicken, and various other vehicles, Fox could find himself comfortably settling into the controls of any vehicle, and this wasn't too different.

After a few seconds, Fox found himself on the track. Despite the cockpit being closed, he felt the sensation of wind rushing around him. The metaphorical wind carried with a sense of high octane elation. He sighed contently, finding himself at ease. This was the one constant for him throughout the years, before and after that day at Zelda's castle where he ended up greatly changing - the feeling of behind a wheel, being in control of something that moved across the world. He wasn't the sort to contemplate, even before his accident, but he wondered if the people that invented cars felt this same sense of elation. He found himself thanking the great man, the man that mass produced cars and led personal transportation into the future as if he was a deity.

"...President Gerald Ford, you are a hero to all." Fox murmured to himself as the world stretched around him.

* * *

 _ **Author's Note** : Hey guys, I'm participating in My First Game Jam on itch io, so I may end up slacking on writing for a while. Please support my efforts on the shit-city-dreamer tumblr blog or check out the devlog topic on itch io on World Souls/A Gang of Weirdos, I would appreciate it!_


	12. Tower

_**Author's Note:** Hey guys, I've got something big to talk about! For the last two weeks I've been working on something for My First Game Jam over on itch io and I actually managed to release a game! It's called **A Gang of Weirdos** , which is published under the name of Shit City Dreamer, and it's a free game made in RPG Maker MV about restoring a world! It takes an hour or two to beat and I'd appreciate it if you check it out!_

 _Now without further ado... there was another reason why I made that Normals anniversary chapter. Note that there are references to the Empty Room, so maybe go read that too._

* * *

 _ **54:** Tower_

—-

Our story today begins in a small town, a town that looks fairly average on the surface. Nice humbles houses, well maintained lawns, kids playing in the streets or inside, a good place all around. But you don't want the story of the nice town, because that'd be mundane. Unless you're looking for a nice slice of life like the Daily Lives of High School Boys. But this is not an anime slice of life.

And so, this nice non-mundane story begins with an object falling from the sky and crashing like a meteor. It collided into the roof of a house that belonged to an old man, who was sitting out on his porch drinking ice tea or whatever old people drink.

Two people tumbled from the object, groaning in pain. And then proceeded to fall off of the roof which was even more painful. One of them was a blue canine like creature and thankfully, he landed on his companion, who was a robust penguin that could take a lot of punishment.

"You said you could fly those things..." Lucario groaned from on top of his friend (?), Dedede.

"Hey, I got us here, didn't I?" Dedede snapped. He took his former Normal friend, Lucario, when the Halberd began descending during the escape from the Smash Castle on one of the air ride machines Meta Knight had stored away. "Besides, I wasn't exactly a 'character' in Air Ride, but a boss so I never got to ride one of the normal rides..."

"Dedede, you could have killed us!" Lucario said, now thankful that they even reached anywhere at all.

"It's better than staying in the ship." Dedede said, making a grumpy noise. "Where are we, anyway?"

"My house." The owner finally spoke up, after regarding the two strangers.

Dedede and Lucario quickly scrambled to their feet, looking abashed. "Mister, we're sorry about your roof." Lucario apologized.

The old man just looked up, said "yep," and kept drinking his iced tea.

It honestly seemed like he didn't care in the slightest.

"...Well, we got off scot free."Dedede stated before proceeding to walk away whistling.

"Dedede, I know that you're an anti-hero but you should take some responsibili... ty?" Lucario was going to stop him, but that's when the Pokemon Smasher noticed the rest of the neighborhood.

As mundane as the neighborhood seemed on the surface, there were bizarre things going on that people didn't seem phased by at all. Such as a raccoon in a trash can selling trash to other raccoons while the owner of the house stood by expecting a cut of the money. A lady cutting her hedges into bizarre shapes. A bunch of cats doing choreographed dance. In fact, Lucario thought about it and realized that if this world was even remotely sane, the old man should have freaked out upon seeing him and a giant penguin, let alone ask them to repair his roof.

"...Well, I suppose we're in our element." Lucario said quietly, following after Dedede.

 **THE NORMALS 2: MINUS 2**

 **CHAPTER 1: FOOD**

Of course, after crash landing on the paradoxically mundane and strange planet, Lucario and Dedede honestly had no idea what to do. However, first things first, they had to find a place to stay, at least until they could figure out what to do.

Although, they were both wary about staying in the same place together. As they both used to be Normals, they could be pulled into story nonsense the longer they stay together. The Protagonist Principle, it was called.

But I'm going to set it straight to you guys: you aren't the protagonists.

"Huh? We aren't?" a worried Dedede answered. Both of them were sitting at separate tables at a fast food place, needing to sate the hunger that grew during the trip.

Yeah. See, you guys aren't the real protagonists and you're starring in a side story, where the protagonist role just kinda shifts around. So yeah, just bare with it until the end of the chapter and you're off the hook.

"That's a relief." Lucario said. He took his tray of food and went to sit back with Dedede, now willing to take the risk of coexisting. It's just like old times. Well, Meta Knight and Falco weren't there, but whatever. "Dedede, so, what do you think we should do?"

"Hm... with all the weird things going on, do you think anyone would notice if we steal something?" The king suggested.

"I don't think so- no! We're not going to be robbers!" An annoyed Lucario said. "Besides, with that Giygas monster out there, people will need our help, and we can't help anyone from a jail cell!"

Dedede stared at him with a completely dead look in his eyes. "I really don't want to fight Giygas."

Lucario turned his gaze toward the burger in front of him. "...I don't either." He admitted. "It just looks like... there's a void inside of him. A never ending void that... I don't... want to be trapped in a void again..."

Realizing that thinking about Giygas is bringing up some memories, Dedede snapped him out of it with a pat to the shoulder. "Hey, you know what, let's focus on getting a place first."

The Pokemon slowly calmed down. "Alright." He picked up his burger, but as he brought it up to his mouth, a thought occurred to him. "...Where did you get the money to buy this food?"

"Take a guess."

"..." Lucario decided to not press him on it and turned to eating.

 **CHAPTER 2: JOB**

Lucario and Dedede walked down the street casually, not even receiving a stare despite being surrounded by humans. As they thought about what to do, they go by a poster that was stapled on the wall:

" _PIZZA DINOSAUR"_

 _"The most stores in the world, the most pizza job openings - now hiring, always hiring! We are better than Mona Pizza!"_

"...Now why is Mona Pizza vaguely familiar?" Lucario said, trying to recall where he heard the phrase.

"Who cares, they have jobs here!" Dedede proclaimed, excited. Than he mellowed out. "...Eh, but I don't want to work. It's still not my thing."

"Hm, I'm actually wary myself." The Pokemon shivered, remembering the disastrous time where he and the rest of the Normals had to cook breakfast for the rest of the castle. Thank goodness ROB got most of the blame for that. "...But hey, we have to do something..."

So thus Lucario and King Dedede went to get a jobs at the pizza chain, and both thankfully ended up becoming delivery boys instead of the ones making the pizza. Dedede even used the last of his most likely stolen money to buy a pizza to eat on the way to their first delivery in one of the store's cars.

"Bleh!" Dedede spit some of the pizza he was chewing on out of the window while Lucario drove. "The crust is too tough and the sauce is too thin!"

"Maybe you just have high standards." Lucario said from behind the wheel. As he pulled up to a red light, he reached for the open box and bit into a slice. "...You were right. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry this is actually awful."

But despite the awfulness, Pizza Dinosaur was still successful and the two were still in their pocket, so they decided to bare with it and do their jobs.

 **CHAPTER 3: SKY**

The two have settled into a small apartment, with Dedede getting furnishings from who knows where. Ordinarily Lucario would be judgmental, but given that they're already barely meeting rent on their salaries, he decided to look the other way for once.

Besides, there were more important things on his mind.

"Is it me, or is the sky turning red?" Lucario noted during one of their deliveries.

"Eh, it must be sunset." Dedede offhandedly answered, not even bothering to look outside the window.

"It's noon."

"Huh."

"...I do not like that shade of red. It reminds me of..." Lucario tried to shake it from his mind. "Maybe it's just a weird thing going on..."

So they continued their delivery run, as the skies turned toward a darkening red. After their work for the day was done, they started walking home when they heard a bunch of people gossiping in front of a game store.

"Did you hear? That WarioWare company is releasing a bunch of new games!" One girl said.

"Yeah, that'll keep my mind off those red clouds!" A boy said.

"I heard that people are acting weird up north when those clouds starting rolling in."Someone else said.

"Forget about it, video games!"

King Dedede and Lucario looked at each other, astonished. "We're in the WarioWare universe? Oh, we can try reaching out to Wario's employees, since he knows us and all." Lucario said.

"...Do you really think that Wario put a good word in for us? ...Do you honestly think he helps people?" Dedede asked, dead serious.

"...Yeah, you're right." Lucario sighed. "Well, at least we know where we are. We can figure out what to do from here."

 **CHAPTER 4: GAME**

"Hey Lucario!" He heard Dedede yell from outside of their apartment door. Before the Pokemon could go answer it, the penguin king kicked the door in, carrying a game console and box in his arms.

Lucario sized up his friend. He seemed to look frenzied, a manic look in his eyes. "...Where did you..."

"Not important, I thought that we should pass some time by playing video games!" King Dedede set the console down and plugged it into their television (which was of course stolen from somewhere).

Lucario picked up the box and examined it. "Oh, you got that WarioWare game?"

"Yeah! Everyone's talking about how good it is! I even saw people fighting over it!"

"Wait, wha-"

"Let's do this!" Dedede declared, taking the case to retrieve the disc inside. Slam dunking it into the console, he handed a rather perturbed Lucario a controller as the game started up.

For a brief second, something that looked like a title screen popped up on the screen. However, it was then almost immediately replaced by a picture of Wario's face, which made the two players jump. "Wah! This is WarioWare Inc's DRM, and I see that you didn't buy this game legally!"

"I... don't think this is how DRM works." Lucario murmured.

"So for your crime, consider your games bricked!" The Wario faced declared. Then, true to its word, the game shut off.

The game console also started sizzling, smoke emerging from it.

"...I could get us a new one!" Dedede offered.

"I didn't even want to play in the first place."

But just like that, his carnal desires of materialism being egged on by an unknown force, King Dedede ran out of the apartment.

Lucario shrugged and decided to start watching television. Nothing really good seemed to be on, so he flipped to a news station. He found that it was a good way to learn about the going ons in that world.

There was a panicked newscaster on the screen. "Do not buy the new games released by the WarioWare corporation!" He declared. Lucario was immediately concerned - the man seemed genuinely afraid. "The government has reported that it messes with your mind, makes you more violent! It's like those red clouds! The only copies that seem to be safe are the illegally obtained ones that get bricked by the built-in DR -"

Suddenly the man was gone, replaced by a "TECHNICAL DIFFICULTIES" message. Lucario just stared at the screen in shock, wondering what on earth was going on.

Then the message disappeared. The man was now replaced by a woman smiling with eerie calmness. "Ah, please forgive that. The station would like to take back their comments on the new WarioWare game, and we would like to declare it to be game of the year."

Lucario decided to turn the tv off.

 **CHAPTER 5: COLLAPSE**

There was something seriously wrong with King Dedede.

There was something seriously wrong with everybody.

As the days go by, King Dedede started filling their apartment with stuff, all stolen. It didn't matter if neither of them needed it - King Dedede got it for the sake of getting it. One day while the Pop Star native was adding potted plants to a pile, Lucario nervously approached him. "Why are you taking all of these things?"

That's when King Dedede looked at him, with a deranged look in his eyes. "Because I'm a king! And kings deserve everything!"

With that, the penguin king left to take more stuff.

Eventually King Dedede stopped coming to work with Lucario, fanatically devoted to his self-ideology. However, Lucario soon decided to leave too. On his delivery runs, he saw people acting more unusually than they used to, partaking in aggressive actions or acting more depressive. He pretty much handed in his resignation after a customer attacked him for daring to ask her for a tip.

And the sky...

The sky completely settled on that red color. It looked like a void, and whenever Lucario looked outside, he saw nothing.

Just.

Nothing.

It reminded him of the Empty Room.

And it's emptiness.

Whenever he looked outside he felt as if he was spiraling into that void again.

Whenever he was outside he felt that the world would one day be swallowed up by the empty darkness, spiraling into forever.

He couldn't take being outside anymore.

Lucario found himself curling up in the apartment, watching tv. He mainly settled on watching the older stuff, because a lot of the new shows seemed to be getting as bizarre as everything else. The Pokemon allowed himself to become a shut-in, watching television or playing video games (though avoiding the WarioWare games like the plague), and was actually thankful for Dedede's heightened kleptomania because he kept bringing in necessary things so that he may never go outside.

So that he may never be swallowed by the void.

Sure. Sure Dedede stopped talking to him, growing aggressively concerned with his own needs. But. But. But it's better than being outside. Better. Better than being outside.

Outside.

 **CHAPTER 6: REUNION (?)**

Somebody kicked in the door that day, and it wasn't Dedede.

"Lucario!" Falco shouted, upon seeing his old friend. The avian felt like hugging him, in defiance of his normal attitude. "Dude, what have you been up to?"

Lucario was wrapped up in a blanket, controller in his hands in a dark room illuminated only by a television screen surrounded by mountains of stuff. The Pokemon looked from the glowing screen to Falco.

And there was absolute panic on his face. "No! No!" He tried to throw the controller at the arrival, but of course it was still plugged into the console so he just ended up disconnecting it instead. "The void! It swallowed me up after all!"

"...What are you talking abou-"

"I'm hallucinating again! No! You're not real!" Lucario scrambled away from Falco, all jittery like. "No! I can't be in the void! I'm real! I'm real!"

Falco could only stare at him, unsure of what to do, in complete shock of what Lucario turned into.

Master Hand showed up behind him, carrying King Dedede in his palm. They had found out about King Dedede's location from watching the screens and seeing him rob a store during a Black Friday riot, and they had only found out about Lucario because of Dedede's mad murmurings.

"No don't touch my stuff... don't touch him he's my friend mine..."Dedede growled from inside the glove, but was otherwise incapable of doing anything about his cushy confinement.

"How are things over here?" Master Hand asked amidst Dedede's futile struggling.

"...Lucario is not doing any better." Falco said quietly, regarding his Pokemon friend sadly. Seeing the state Giygas' influence had reduced his friends to was painful and only fueled his hate for the guy even more. It made him wonder about Meta Knight, his other former Normal friend... "Lucario, you're going to have to come with us."

"Nooooo! Don't take me into the void!" He screamed.

"...You're going to have to subdue him." Master Hand stated solemnly.

"...I guess so." Falco approached the terrified Pokemon uneasily. "Sorry... this is going to hurt me more than it hurts you."

 **COMING SOON**

 **THE NORMALS 4: WRONG NUMBER**

 **Author's Note:** _Reunions are good. +u+_


	13. Breathe Again

**10:** Breathe Again

* * *

Princess Peach, or, the woman that was a princess in another universe sat on the edge of the river, casting a line into it. A light breeze rustled her hair, as a lovely monarch butterfly fluttered past as she engaged in one of her newest hobbies. Gazing into her reflection in the water, she thought about herself. In the past, she wouldn't be doing something like this. Her aides would get feisty about her sitting in the dirt, catching fish. Toadsworth would probably shoo her back into the castle, assuring her that better, non-raw fish would be bought from a marketplace for her.

However, the act of fishing itself and simply getting fish from a market are two different things. As she discovered, there was something fulfilling about fishing. Casting a lure into the water felt like casting aside her troubles. She felt independent, herself. It gave her the same feeling of agency she gets when she goes on her own adventures or when she fought in Smash. However, there was a different tint to this feeling compared to those other times.

Peace. Peach liked being independent, yes, but she also liked to be at peace. And the Animal Crossing world offered both to her. Having her own house and being in control of it without retainers or servants deciding what's best for her, doing things in the great outdoors, having responsibility over her own finances, this life was great. It was peaceful, she was herself, and it couldn't get much better than this.

* * *

 **Author's Note:** Something short and simple. If you're having Spring Break, be like Peach and take it easy.


	14. Memory

**11:** Memory

* * *

 _Fox leaned against the wall of Hyrule Castle, relaxing after a day of fighting. He looked across the grassy plains, taking in the view – and he just shrugged at it. He honestly preferred towering skyscrapers and cool cyberpunk stuff mixed in with his nature. However, it certainly beat looking at lands full of dinosaurs, he had to admit._

 _His chill time was interrupted by the sound of scurrying feet on cobblestone. Fox tilted his head to see his friend approaching him. "Heya, pipsqueak."_

 _"H-Hey Fox." Pikachu greeted him nervously. His cute face was distorted into a frown, which would easily garner anyone's sympathy, because who would be happy around an upset Pikachu?_

 _"What's wrong?"_

 _"Well, I'm in a little trouble…"_

 _"Deal with it. With your fists." Fox answered with a casual air. "You're a fighter, and I know you're a good one."_

 _"Thanks, but –"_

 _Fox knelt down next to him, looking him eye to eye. "Pikachu. You got this. Believe in yourself." He gave his little friend an assuring smile._

 _Pikachu smiled back, but he still had hesitations. "It's not a fighting problem though, Fox…"_

 _"Well… can it still be solved through violence?"_

 _"No. It's, um, I actually need help looking for a wallet." A brief flash of annoyance appeared on the electric rat's face. "I don't know why, but I can't hold more than, like, 50 rupees?"_

 _"Oh. Yeah, that sucks." Fox sighed, feeling his pain. "I don't know what's with this place and money. Why the hell do I we need wallets to carry things when we have pockets?"_

 _"I know, right? It's so stupid!" Pikachu said, reflecting a bit of Fox's abrasive personality._

 _"God, yeah." Fox stood up, looking back toward the entrance of Hyrule Castle proper. "I don't know what to do about that wallet situation, but let's go ask Master Hand or Link for help, okay pal?"_

Fox woke up, trying to hang onto the threads of the dream he had. He had been taking a nice well deserved rest, allowing Meta Knight to pilot their vessel. He groggily glanced at the knight behind the wheel before turning his thoughts toward that dream. It felt like a memory, but it was all so foggy. He didn't remember being like that… or was he? The lupine wasn't sure. Maybe he's just tired. Deciding that to be the truth of his situation, Fox went right back to sleep.


End file.
